Switch-stand



2 sheetssheen 1.

(No Model.)

A. A. STROM.

SWITCH STAND.

No. 363,772. Patented May 24, 1887.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. A. STROM.

SWITCH STAND. No. 363,772. i Patented May 24, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

AXEL A. STROM, OF ASTIN, ILLINOIS.

SWITCH- STAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters' Patent No. 363,772, dated 24, 1887.

Application filed February 5, 1887. Serial No. 226,637.

To @ZZ whomz' may concern.-

(No model.)

The absolutely-immovable portion of the Be it known that l, AXEL A. STROM, a citiclutch device constitutes the principal feature zen ot' the United States, residing at Austin, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Switch-Stands; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My present invention relates particularly to an improvement upon the stand for split switches for which Letters Patent of the United States, No. 337,352, were 4granted me on the 2d day of March, 1886.

The objects of my present, like those of my former, construction are to permit the switch to'be opened automatically bythe flange of the first locomotive-wheel which comes into cont-act with it, to permit the device to be readily and accurately readjusted, and also to be operated easily by hand. Further objects are to provide a switch stand of simple construction, involving few parts, and not liable to get out of order, and which is thoroughly effective in its purpose and reliable in its operation.

My present construction includes a hollow standard, a spindle extending through the standard, with a crank, normally off a deadcenter, on its llower end to engage with a sliding yoke on the connecting-rod, a clutch comprising an absolutely-immovable part on the standard near its upper end, and a rotary and vertically-movable part imposed thereon and capable of being locked to and released from the spindle at will, and a confined spring surrounding the spindle below the immovable/ portion of the clutch, whereby the spindle, when unlocked from the clutch device, maybe easily turned by hand to move the connectingrod. back and forth, and when locked to the clutch device affords substantially insuperable resistance to its being turned by hand, but is automatically movable through the connecting-bar by the flange of a locomotive-wheel, which forces inward the connecting-bar, thereby turning the upper or rotating part of the clutch -upon the lower or immovable part, which operation causes the spindle to rise against the resistance of the surrounding spring, andthe resistance of the latter tends toforce the two clutch portions into engagement. r

of novelly in my improvement, and it is the general construction of the same-involving this feature, as also combinations ofparts forming my improved construction, which consti tute my invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of my improved switch-stand, mainly sectional and partly broken, and having the normal dpositions of parts indicated by means of dotted lines; Fig. 2, a section taken ou the line 2 2 of Fig. land viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3, a bottom view of the recessed rotatory-table detail, having teeth around its center to constitute the upper portion of the clutch device; Fig. 4, a section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5, a plan view of the lower portieri of the clutch device;"and Fig. 6, a section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. l, viewed in the direction of the arrows, and showing by dotted lilies different positions of the crank.

A is the hollow standard', having a iianged base, A', provided with an opening, r, Fig.

6, on each side, if desired, to admit the con` nectingrod B, which ends in a transverse yoke, C, supported to slide back and forth in the base of the stand on lateral guides q, and containing a shifting-block, p, which receives the end ofthe crank D ou the lower extremity ofthe spindle E, extending through thestandard, as shown. The spindle is steadied by a web, O, near the base of the standard, and by a block, F, surrounding it at the upper end of the standard, into a reduced part of which it is inserted at its rectangular portion oz, and rigidly secured to be immovable by means of screw-bolts m. Below the block 'F ou the spindle are two collars, Z and Z', (the formerof the spindle is a collar, I, keyed, as shown, to the spindle to move with it, and provided with `a slotted extension, 7L, in which is pivoted a lever, K.

The operation of the device is as follows: Normally the lever K is vertical and within a recess t' in the table H. As will be seen, in thisposition (wherein thelever may belocked by a padlock or bolt inserted through staples g and g', respectively, on thelever and extension 72., as shown) the spindle is connected with the clutch device, and cannot be turned by other than a power sufficient to force the teeth k out ot' engagement with the teeth 7c. This can only be done by incidentally raising the spindle, which has a vertical play equal or substantially equal to the vertical length ofthe clutchteeth. Vhen, therefore, the connecting-rod Bis forced inward by the action upon .a switch-rail of the flange of a locomotivewheel, it tends to turn the crank normally off a dead-center, as described. The engagement of the teeth of the clutch device tends to resist the turning ofthe spindle through the medium of the crank, to do which the latter must risc, its rise being produced by the strain exerted through the spindle and lever K on the table H, which forces the clutch-teeth k' out of engagement with the clutch-teeth k, thereby raising the table, and incidentally the spindle, by the abutment of the table against the collar I. In Fig. l the result of this operation is illustrated, the normal position ofthe spindle being shown by the dotted lines, its raised position by full lines, and the teeth ofthe upper rotatory portion of the clutch device raised by the torsion out of engagement with thoseof the lower portion of the same and about to pass over the extremities of the teeth of the latter and reAcngage with the same. Vhen the spindle is raised, it compresses the spring G, the resistance of which assists, by its tendency to force the spindle backto its normal position, in producing the re-engagement with thelower immovable part of the clutch of the upper What I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a switch-stand, the combination of a rotatory spindle provided with a crank and capable of vertical play, a confined spring, a clutch device through which the spindle eX- tends to rotate independently thereof, and comprising an immovable clutch portion and a rotatory and vertically-movable clutch portion, and means, substantially as described, for interlocking and disconnecting the spindle and clutch device at will, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a switch-stand, the combination of a rotatory spindle provided with a crank and capable of vertical play, a confined helical spring surrounding the spindle, a clutch de- .vice through which the spindle extends to rotate independently thereof, and comprising an immovable clutch-block, F, having teeth It', and a rotatory and verticallymovable recessed table, H, having teeth 7c to engage with the teeth lc, and a lever pivotally counected with the spindle to engage normally with the recessed table, and thereby interlock the spindle .and clutch device, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A switclrstand comprising, in combination, a hollow standarchA A', a rotatory spindle, E, supported in the standard to have ver tical play and provided with a crank, I), on its lower end, a clutchAblock, F, rigidly secured upon the standard near its upper end to sur round the spindle and provided with teeth k, a helical spring, G, in the standard surrounding the spindle and con [ined on the same against the clutch-.block F, a vertically-mow AXEL A. STROM.

In presence of J. WV. DYRENFORTH, FRANK L. DoUeLAs. 

